Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: need help choosing shrub, 1 by missingrosie

missingrosie wrote:
Glad you liked my near midnight feeble attempt.
I TOO had the shade disaster ...but it was not me...it was an ice storm to beat all. And that tree kept the algae down in the stream .... Now I have to treat it and kill frogs...plus everything growing the shade burned. The butterfly maple still has not forgiven me.

I love the color of your roof and it underwrites the architectural style.

Our town - Hillsborough NC ( near Chaoel Hill ) is a mill town too.. Cotton even tho NC is known for tobacco.

You have to hire for the labor and that is why things cost. Materials for the landscape fabric and mulch and the annuals and a small sapling would be under $200 for what I did. A bench a bit more. But having kids go thru college -- may as well be 2 thousand. Glad they are done! My daughter tells me the grandsons braces are costing her a few thousand. WOW.

Here is the tree I lost. A birch. Grows rapidly - part of the brittle problem... I still want to cry, but I am the one that raised and canopied it and so...I have to take some of the blame..had I left the supporting limbs...maybe it would still be here

The second photo -- all that green...those are WEEEEEEEDS...that area was filled in with low growing shade loving things..I pulled out when burned and mulched and the weeds came..(.?? In the mulch????)

Last...the snow is pretty...If we would get more than the occasional snow..it would be great...but our winters are short and rather than snow..we get ice storms. Devastates the trees and as the sheets slide off the roof....ugh...ruined the BEST pomegranate...it had brilliant orange flowers.

This message was edited Sep 8, 2015 11:39 AM